What We Learned About The Guardians After Two-Game Set With Royals

The heavyweight matchup between the two teams atop of the American League Central was cut short this week. The Cleveland Guardians and Kansas City Royals played only two games against one another due to Wednesday's postponement.

Still, this two-game set offered a good perspective on where the Guardians stand. Here are three things we learned about Cleveland over the last few days.

Josh Naylor Needs More DH Days

Josh Naylor has been one of baseball’s top first basemen both on defense and offense the last calendar year. However, even he needs days where he just focuses on hitting and lets someone else play the position in the field.

Naylor had two crucial miscues at first base in Thursday’s loss. The first one was a pickoff attempt at first base in which the ball got past Naylor allowing Mikel Garcia to advance and the second one was a poor throw home which allowed MJ Melendez to score.

Again, Naylor is still one of the best first basemen in the game. But when the team also has David Fry and Kyle Manzardo on the roster, giving him a day off in the field could be beneficial.

Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor catches a ball at first base resulting in a force out for Royals' Adam Frazier. — Jun 6, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor (22) force out Kansas City Royals pinch hitter Adam Frazier (26) during the sixth inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports | Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Unknowns With Guardians Starting Rotation

Before the second game of the series was rained out, Stephen Vogt revealed they planned to start Nick Sandlin with Logan Allen available out of the bullpen.

Vogt said the reason for initially starting Sandlin was “We got together and we were talking about strategies to win the game and just looking at our roster and how to go about navigating one single game and we thought having Nick starting the game would give us the best opportunity.”

Allen is in line to start for the Guardians in their series opener against the Miami Marlins on Friday night. Perhaps Sandlin being the team’s opener had something to do with the unknown in the weather or it was because of Allen’s struggles in his recent starts.

However, it still is an intriguing option that Guardians were ready to deploy before the postponement.

Guardians Have True Competition In The AL Central

This was the first time the Guardians saw the Royals this season. If not for Kansas City, Cleveland could be running away with the division if it wasn’t for their opponents’ breakout season.

The Royals proved in these two games that Bobby Witt Jr. is an MVP contender, the Royals have a complete lineup, and their starting rotation led by Seth Lugo and Brady Singer is real.

The Guardians may have control of first right now, but the Royals are a real threat to win it after all 162 games have been played. Cleveland needs to stay one step ahead and upgrade the obvious holes on the roster.